Stock index dynamics and derivatives pricing with stochastic interest rates

The paper analyzes the equilibrium valuation of stock index derivatives in an economy with stochastic interest rates and with a representative agent having time-additive power utility. The equilibrium short interest rate dynamics and the equilibrium term structure of interest rates are described by an affine one-factor term structure model. In equilibrium the value of the stock index is a non-trivial function of the short interest rate. The paper investigates the consequences of the induced stock index dynamics for the theoretical spreads between index forward prices and index futures prices and the consequences for the valuation of options on stock index futures.The paper was written while the author was a visiting scholar at Department of Finance, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. I thank for helpful comments and suggestions from Gurdip Bakshi, Avi Bick, Menachem Brenner (the editor), Zhiwu Chen, San-Lin Chung, Mark Fisher, Andreas Höger, Marti Subrahmanyam, two anonymous referees, and participants at the Western Finance Association meeting in San Diego, the European Financial Management Association meeting in Istanbul, the European Finance Association meeting in Vienna, and the Center of Analytical Finance workshop at University of Aarhus. Financial support from the Danish Natural Science and Social Science Reasearch Councils is gratefully acknowledged.     

How green is your packaging—A comparative international study of cues consumers use to recognize environmentally friendly packaging

Consumers have grown increasingly aware of the impact of packaging on the environment. Therefore, interest has grown in more environmentally friendly packaging, but we wondered how consumers recognize ‘green’ as distinct from ‘grey’ when evaluating packaging. We asked over 3,000 respondents from Germany, France and the United States how they recognize environmentally friendly packaging. To solicit responses that we may not have anticipated, we used an open‐ended format, which we then followed with a closed‐ended format so that we could compare the two sets of responses. Not surprisingly, in both sets of responses, we found labelling to be the attribute consumers rely upon most, as well as evidence of misleading labels. We also found consumers in Germany and the United States relied on information on the packaging and named searching for information as one of their preferred ways to decide whether packaging is environmentally friendly. French consumers seemed less trusting of published information and more trusting of the look and feel, especially the material, of the package. Our results point to the importance of cultural influences in the acquisition of perceptual cues by the consumer.     

Reform des IWF

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Der Ausbau der Hochschulen muss zügig kommen

Die Bedeutung des Humankapitals für das künftige Wirtschaftswachstum ist allgemein anerkannt. Gleichzeitig sto?en steigende Studienanf?ngerzahlen auf knappe Bildungsbudgets in den Bundesl?ndern. Wie wird sich die Zahl der Studienanf?nger bis 2020 entwickeln? Wird es eine entsprechende Nachfrage nach Hochschulabsolventen geben? Welcher Kapazit?tsaufbau ist an den Hochschulen erforderlich und was wird er kosten?     

Regimes of Interest Rates,Income Shares,Savings and Investment: A Kaleckian Model and Empirical Estimations for some Advanced OECD Economies

The first part of the paper deals with the effects of an exogenous variation in the monetary interest rate on the real equilibrium position of the economic system in a Kaleckian effective demand model. Different regimes of accumulation are derived and it is shown that a negative relation between the interest rate and the equilibrium rates of capacity utilization, accumulation and profit usually expected in post‐Keynesian theory only exists under special conditions. In the second part the model is applied to the data of some major OECD countries, the relevant coefficients are estimated and the relevance for an explanation of the course of GDP and capital stock growth since the early 1960s is discussed.